Chanel Sublimage Essential Comfort Cleanser Review

As Lynnie'd say, lookit, I know a review of an €80 cleanser is not one that'll find favour with all of you so look away now if you could never bring yourself to part with the best part of a ton for something you'll wash down the drain. But if you're of a voyeuristic nature, would part with a hefty chunk of change or just really like Chanel's Sublimage anti-ageing skincare line, then read on.

Chanel Sublimage Essential Comfort Cleanser launches on 7th October and it's a gel-to-oil cleanser that would be really easy to say very little about because it's just one of those products you have in the bathroom that you reach for often, which works excellently, and as a result, you tend to forget to comment on because it becomes a nuts-and-bolts part of your routine.

But that would be doing it a disservice, and expensive as it is, it deserves a post. Receiving one as a preview sample from the brand, it's become one of three cleansers I've been rotating recently. I didn't expect to like this as much as I do; initially, in fact, I thought it was a foaming cleanser and put it to one side before I read the packaging more carefully.

Like Clarins' Pure Melt Cleansing Gel or the Body Shop's Nutriganics Softening Cleansing Gel, (except far more refined, darling), this comes out of the tube as a clear gel, massages into a fine, fluid oil on the face to instantly lift all makeup, including eye makeup and waterproof cosmetics. Once you add warm water, it emulsifies, and you use the included cotton cloth (a rarefied muslin) to wash off all traces.

It's very effective and contains lots of nice ingredients like camellia and jojoba oils. Post-cleanse, skin doesn't feel tight or uncomfortable and this is one of the reasons I like oil-based cleansers so much - I just can't be doing with the whole dessicated Pharaoh face feeling.

Any downsides? I found it left my eyes slightly red and stingy if I massaged it into them quite a lot (to remove something particularly stubborn like Benefit's They're Real mascara, for example) but otherwise this is fine for day-to-day makeup removal and general cleansing. The muslin that comes with it is undoubtedly lovely and smooth but actually a more knobbly one would be better for a little light exfoliation, so I'm finding I'm not favouring it and using my Eve Lom ones instead.

Packaging's another point in Sublimage Essential Comfort Cleanser's favour - the fact that this is a tube will appeal to those who don't like dunking fingers into pots. You can easily control how much you squidge out, and a pea-ish-sized amount is about right for a whole face, so the large 150ml tube should last you a pretty decent amount of time.